There is a need for an open-top fluid container that exhibits both splash and spill-resistant characteristics, even when subjected to significant vibratory forces or jarring, such as may be created upon dropping the container or placing it in a moving vehicle. As an example, the general mode of providing animals with fluids for consumption is through containers such as a simple dog dish, an old bowl or the like. Of course, these dishes and bowls are often hemispherical in shape. Although such bowls are easily filled with fluid and accessed by an animal, they are prone to allowing significant splashing and spillage when an animal or human caretender inadvertently comes into physical contact with the exterior of the bowl. This is especially true for some animals, such as large dog breeds, which may accidentally step on the perimeter of the bowl or kick the bowl, thereby causing it to flip over and spill the fluid contents on the ground. Even specially contoured one-piece pet bowls formed of molded plastic that are well-known in the art (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,476 to Van Ness et al.), suffer from similar splash and spillage problems.
During extended trips, animals require fluid nourishment to maintain comfort and well-being. This often results in a significant number of inconvenient stops being made to provide the animal with sufficient amounts of fluid. As can be appreciated, this extra stopping can substantially increase the required travel time. Furthermore, some animals, such as dogs employed in law enforcement operations, may spend many hours per day, several days per week in a vehicle, and will require a constant supply of fluids to remain healthy.
In the typical vehicle, such as a car, truck, boat, or plane, the only suitable location to place such a container is on the floor. As can be appreciated, the motion of the vehicle during operation creates significant jarring that will inevitably create waves or ripples in the fluid. These waves or ripples in turn will likely cause the fluid to splash or spill from any standard container. Furthermore, during emergency stopping or swerving, the container may flip over or invert, thus causing the entire contents to empty on the floor of the vehicle, an obviously undesirable situation.
Previously, others have proposed a variety of containers for holding fluids for animal consumption in an attempt to overcome this problem. A basic example of such a container is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,152,576 to Faurot. The container disclosed in the '576 patent is provided with a flat frusto-conical wall extending partially into the cavity of the container to prevent water from spilling if the container is tilted. However, this proposed design has several shortcomings. For instance, the amount of fluid held is extremely limited. If the container is filled beyond the aperture in the frusto-conical wall, the fluid will easily spill upon tipping or inversion. Furthermore, even if the amount of fluid is limited as shown, nothing prevents the fluid from splashing out of the container if significant lateral jarring occurs.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,076,435 to Seymour discloses acontainer with an exchange system that allows fluid held in a reservoir to refill a chamber continuously as an animal imbibes the fluid. Although this design attempts to solve the problem of splashing created by lateral jarring and tilting, it is apparent that fluid held within the reservoir easily spills out onto the floor if the container is inverted or tipped beyond a specified angle (see FIG. 4). Therefore, at best, this design can be said to only minimize spillage under certain limited conditions, and certainly not during the complete inversion of the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,504 to Carrico discloses a container having an internal dish for holding fluid, the dish being in fluid communication with the surrounding housing. While the housing includes an inverted channel for catching fluid upon the inversion of the container. the entire volume of fluid in the container must be caught by this channel. This of course reduces the effectiveness of this design in preventing inadvertent spills and limits how much fluid may be held.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,287 to Gruber discloses a container that utilizes a floating dish to minimize splashing created by lateral jarring. This is similar in concept to the container shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,546 to Moore, which also proposes the use of a floating dish to prevent splashing. As should be appreciated, neither container would suitably contain the fluid if inversion occurs, as the diameter of the floating dish in both instances is slightly less than the diameter of the body of the container and, thus, would allow fluid to pass thereby and spill out of the container. In final analysis, this container, as well as those identified above, can at best be termed splash, but not spill, resistant.
In addition to use for holding fluids for animal consumption, there is a need for a splash and spill resistant container for holding fluids in other applications besides providing drinking water for animals. For example, in hospitals or other health care facilities, portable bedpans and urinals holding human waste are often subjected to jarring forces, both in use and when being carried away for emptying. Spillage resulting from such jarring or accidentally dropping the container can of course create a mess and necessitate a time consuming clean up. Providing a container that prevents substantially all spillage during such uses would thus eliminate these problems. Another possible use is during scientific research, where it is often necessary to provide an open-top container for fluids while assuring that spillage or splashing is limited. Essentially, the possible applications for an improved splash and spill-resistant container are limitless.
Accordingly, a need is identified for an improved splash and spill-resistant container. The container would withstand significant jarring without fluid splashing, and should be able to undergo a complete inversion without spilling the fluid contents. Also, the container would be simple and inexpensive in construction, thus lending itself to uses in a number of different environments where it is desirable to prevent fluids from splashing or spilling from an open top vessel.